Posted on 05/16/2022 6:01:34 AM PDT by Red Badger
Car thieves are turning to a two-person system that, with the help of technology, allows them to pop the locks on cars with keyless entry and then – if the vehicle has keyless start – drive off.
“They’re very bold,” Jason Flenniken of south Austin, Texas said, according to WOIA-TV.
Flenniken said his neighborhood has been hit by thieves using what are known as relay devices to get into locked vehicles.
“There were at least three people that were roaming around our particular street,” said Flenniken. “I know in the neighborhood that night we had a lot more valuables stolen, and two actual cars were taken that night.”
Two people are needed to make a relay theft work.
One goes to the front door of an unsuspecting house, because many people store key fobs near the front door.
Thief One captures and amplifies the signal from the fob just inside the door.
WARNING: Car thieves have been using “relay attacks,” where they use equipment to remotely amplify wireless key fob signals to gain access to a victim’s car & start the ignition. Here’s how to prevent it. #SFPD https://t.co/SSfHC4NQlh pic.twitter.com/iZhBBc6uZ3
— San Francisco SAFE (@SFSAFE) January 24, 2020
Meanwhile, Thief Two is waiting by the car, holding a second hacking device near the car door.
The car, engineered to do as the key fob says, opens the door, giving the thieves the opportunity to either take the car’s content or, in some cases, the car itself.
“With a relay attack all you’re really doing is kind of putting an extension cord on your key fob,” said Flenniken. “It’s too easy to do, unfortunately.”
“A lot of drivers are not aware of this ability for thieves to steal their vehicle by simply just standing outside of their home,” Daniel Armbruster of AAA Texas said.
“This can happen to you. It’s not something that’s just a high-tech idea or sci-fi fantasy. This really is happening and, of course, many drivers are finding out the hard way,” he said.
Armbruster said one simple solution is the best defense.
“Don’t leave your key fob in an area near the front door,” said Armbruster. “When you’re at home, store your car keys or fob in a metal cabinet or with some sort of device that protects the radio signal from being intercepted.”
Flenniken said that from now on, his key fob will go in a metal box to block the fob’s signal from being transmitted.
“We actually ordered one. Put that by your front door and just drop your keys in that,” said Flenniken. “You have to set yourself up to not be an easy target.”
Something about this just feels like bee ess.
It isn’t, unfortunately.
The thieves record the signals from fobs in the parking lot, then follow the vehicle to another location and use the recorded signal to gain access.
Supposed to be used on very high dollar vehicles.
That doesn’t stop it from feeling like bee ess.
Clarke’s law.
It’s amazing to find out that breaking into a home can provide access to someone’s keys.
I recall reading about 10-15 years ago that several big sports stars in Europe had expensive cars (IIRC one was a Ferrari) stolen from them in just that way
Why doesn’t the article say this is the proximity unlock, for when you are normally feet away, and that the car is the entity reacting to what it thinks is the owner, now believed to be next to the car door?
“Something about this just feels like bee ess.”
It is BS. The article: “Don’t leave your key fob in an area near the front door,” said Armbruster. “When you’re at home, store your car keys or fob in a metal cabinet or with some sort of device that protects the radio signal from being intercepted.”
Key fobs DO NOT continuously transmit signal, and the article claims they do.
I’ll be honest, I have NEVER liked the keyless feature of my current car... I’ve owned it now for 7 years and I still find it annoying... Sadly the trim level I had a real key was NOT an option.. push button start only.
Don’t have to break in. The signal goes thru the door, the walls, etc...........
The guy interviewed had his car broken into, but admits it was because he left it unlocked. Other break-ins in the area were NOT done by spoofing the fob.
The only actual supposed incident they cite happened in England.
Also, I can understand how they can capture a signal that is transmitted by the fob when you are opening the car yourself, but from an inert fob and through a wall?
This seems like the stuff of urban legends.
Do the keyless entry fobs continuously transmit?
Thanks for posting. This is accurate information. The fobs have little transmitters and they can be read.
I worked at a place where you had to enter through a portal that read your ID Badge which contained all your biometric info.
If you came with things for a birthday or something and there was too much of a discrepancy in your weight it would block you from entering.
This “new” technique is as old as keyless entry.
A difference is that the dumbass criminals are becoming less stupider, and discover easier high tech ways of thievery because someone showed them how to do it. Physics is not their friend; geek nerd Jimmy is.
they used to say the same thing about garage door openers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.